TESTIMONY

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          "AMENDMENT TO ILLINOIS BLOCKCHAIN TECHNOLOGY ACT"

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                               TESTIMONY OF YELENA KLAIRMONT

        BEFORE THE DISTRIBUTED LEDGERS & CRYPTOCURRENCIES                                                                 SUBCOMMITTEE: 

         http://www.ilga.gov/house/committees/members.asp?CommitteeID=2275&GA=100

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         AMENDMENT TO ILLINOIS BLOCKCHAIN TECHNOLOGY ACT

        Dear Representatives Zalewski, Carroll, and Wheeler, Senators Koehler, Oberweis, Hutchinson, Holmes, Castro and members of the Subcommittee. I appreciate the opportunity to testify this morning in support of Amendment to Illinois BLOCKCHAIN TECHNOLOGY ACT. 

          I am a 3d year Law Student at Chicago-Kent College of Law, with interest in Food and Environmental Law and Policy. I am also a consumer and a stakeholder who is very interested and supportive of your initiative to introduce the Illinois BLOCKCHAIN TECHNOLOGY ACT. As an invested stakeholder and consumer, I would like to propose an amendment to your proposed Act, Blockchain application initiative in Food Traceability.

            In light of numerous recent food recalls, the importance of being able to trace the source of food from farm or factory to table is crucial, and blockchain technology is a logical way to support this traceability.[1]  Blockchain application in Food Traceability, will help create a better food supply chain by enhancing transparency and accountability in each step of the food stream, establishing a trusted environment for all transactions.[2] 

           Issues impacting food safety are cross-contamination, the spread of food-borne illness, unnecessary waste and the economic burden of recalls augmented by lack of access to information and traceability. The estimated annual cost of medical treatment, lost productivity, and illness-related mortality due to contaminated product recalls in the United States was $55.5 billion in 2015.[3,4]  One major problem of recalls is that it takes weeks to identify the precise point of contamination, causing further illness, lost revenue and wasted products.[5] 

             I am proposing a development of policy to apply blockchain technology across different food chains for food traceability. This will help securely and easily trace and manage product information throughout the entire supply chain from field to consumer. The implementation of this  amendment will require all large size companies to adopt this technology and input traceability data onto their blockchain system.  Smaller companies will follow and will modify their existing data exchange procedures by investing in the blockchain application technology as blockchain becomes more prevalent and less expensive to adopt. In conclusion, Illinois is already ahead of many states with Blockchain technology initiatives. The technology that can be applied for traceability in food chains already

exists. 

             Amending Illinois Blockchain Technology Act with Blockchain 

application in Food Traceability amendment will help Illinois create a better food supply chain and enhance transparency and accountability in each step of the food supply stream. It will  also establish a trusted environment for all transactions, placing Illinois on the forefront of technological progress.[2] Adopting The Blockchain Application in Food Traceability Amendment to your proposed Act might even help the Act to pass.

                           Thank you for your time and attention.

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[1] https://www01.ibm.com/common/ssi/rep_ca/9/649/ENUSA18-0609/ENUSA18-0609.PDF

[2] https://www01.ibm.com/common/ssi/rep_ca/9/649/ENUSA18-0609/ENUSA18-0609.PDF

[3]https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/17/1/p1-1101_article

[4]http://fortune.com/food-contamination/

[5]https://www.ibm.com/blockchain/solutions/food-trust

[6]https://www03.ibm.com/press/us/en/pressrelease/53013.wss

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